Erak's After-Ransom
by Ranger O'Carrick
Summary: What happened to Erak right after he got freed from Arrida? Well find out here!
1. After Arrida

Once Erak was ransomed and set free from Arrida, he had another problem.

"How am I going to pay Araluen 40,000 reels of silver?" he asked himself on the way back to Skandia, coursing his hands through his blonde hair and pacing about the captain's quarters. "Skandia can't lose 40,000 reels! I mean, with 100 slaves either freed or dead, we don't have as much free labor any more and with the raids from those Temujai, we have no more money left. We are currently in debt to the Araluens and many of our masters of the weapon making jobs! Skandia can't pay Araluen back yet." He eventually took a seat and rested his head in his hands when Svengal burst through the door.

"Erak, the Araluens are asking when we will have the money by," he stated, noticing the down look on his Oberjarl's face. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's just that Skandia has no money. We have lost 100 slaves, are in debt to our blacksmiths, and now we are in debt to Araluen with no money left in Skandia. All the extra, the Temujai stole. They keep coming and they always manage to know when and where the money is going to be hidden. Then they strike in like we did to them near Hallasholm! How do they know where we are transporting or hiding the money?"

Svengal listened to the reiterated knowledge. He had heard this speech about a thousand times already and replied, "So tell them whenever you have it?" to hear a groan come from his leader as his head slipped from his hands and on to the polished desk in front of him, leaving a dent there.

As Erak brought his head back up, he gave Svengal the answer of, "No. I will tell them that myself," and with that, he stormed out of the room with Svengal shaking his head and saying, "Good old Erak, annoyed by being the leader as ever."


	2. Erak's Solution to Everything

"Well, by Gorlog's Beard, what am I supposed to do?!" Erak yelled at Halt. He was cautious to not provoke the little man too much for he might just find an arrow somewhere he didn't want it to be.

"You could just raid again, except now that you've been captured once, you probably don't want to do that again or, you could teach Araluen how to make Wolf ships like your own," Halt replied. He was one for the tactics of future battle, and not one to get mad unless somebody had coffee around.

"I am not teaching all of bloody Arala-whos-its how to make ships like these beauties! If anything, you will get your money Halt, don't you worry," Erak replied, feeling like he was falling into a trap.

"Now, now gentlemen, how about some nice beer and coffee?" Princess Cassandra, more known as Evanlyn, asked.

Halt dismissed her with a wave of his hand to get the drinks and said, "Fine, King Duncan will want his money by the end of one month. You can either do that or teach us how to make ships or if neither one of those tickles your fancy, prepare for battle."

_This man means business,_ Erak thought. _We could easily beat them, though. They have no way of getting over to Skandia for a surprise attack, we have men like bears and women like Gorlog himself, and even if they did surprise us, when the ships get on the water, they'll be wishing they never offered the option of war._

"We accept your war challenge. One month, then let the axes swing," Erak decided with an air of suspicion. _Something must be going on with this Ranger. He normally wouldn't give the idea of war."_

Evanlyn came back with the drinks. "Here you are, boys," she said, sensing the air of uneasiness. "Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Oh everything's fine, Princess," Erak responded.

After the drinks were finished with about seven more cups of both drinks, with Erak cross-eyed and Halt bouncing off the chair like he ate too many of Jenny's apple tarts, Erak finally said, "Drinking is my solution to everything," he said with a grin.


	3. Nagging the Brain

A week had passed by since Halt and Erak had met. Since Halt had been mad at Erak for being captured, well, at least he _thought_ Halt was mad. You never can tell with that man. Anyways, Erak had tried to match Halt for control of the situation and ended up bringing Skandia to war.

The two men were hyper and drunk beyond imagination after Evanlyn brought them their drinks. Erak thought back to that day.

As Halt was bouncing around and Erak was dizzy, the two came to an agreement instead of war.

"I have been hoolish, Falt. War may not be the best idea. I mean...Skandia has those archers and Araluen has the big, burly men with the axes..."

In the background, Evanlyn and Gilan were trying to hold back their laughter. They thought that they'd never find a Skandian drunk, but it looks like they were wrong. Erak was trying to fight the urge to throw up and fall asleep at the same time, but something was itching in the back of his head, and he couldn't remember for the life of him, what it was.

"...So Skandia will raid for his majesty to pay its debts. Is that alright, Halt?" Erak asked.

Halt stopped bouncing, and replied, "That's fine. I was hoping you were going to say that," he replied. Then he whispered to Evanlyn and Gilan, "I think our little friend here needs to lay off the ale for a while, don't you agree?" The two giggling Araluens nodded their heads, now trying to hold back their tears of laughter.

Now that Erak was clear of the ale, he could remember what was nagging at his brain a week ago. There was a land that had had a curse cast on it, so all the people disappeared. Now they were back, and finally on good terms with each other. There was real magic in this land. Both of light and dark sources. Svengal was left in the dark as to where they were going, but Erak knew exactly where they were headed.

Finally, Svengal asked, "Where are we going, Oberjarl?"

Erak replied, "The Enchanted Forest."


End file.
